Rausch der Begierde

It's basically a 90 minute music video. There are a number of striking visuals. The original score is quite good at times.

However, the acting is mostly bad. Gérard Darmon comes across as the best of the bunch and comparatively acts circles around most of these clowns. Virginia Hey's scenes are hit or miss. She has some good moments.

The film itself is a strange mix of erotica and murder mystery set in a futuristic setting. The futuristic setting was the most interesting aspect of the film and also was the least explored in the film. For example, there is a laser gun, but it is only shot once, and it misses and hits a wall. That's it.

The weakest component was the murder mystery. I figured out the killer within the first half of the film before the big clue is revealed. There is very little in terms of gore or special effects here.

It's hard to say who this movie was actually made for.

My review was written in March 1989 after watching the film on Imperial Entertainment video cassette.

This thriller is an excellent example of a recent Italian genre little-known Stateside: the glamorous horror/fashion pic. Direct-to-video release should generate interest in other pasta couture shriekers.

Pic aroused interest in Europe last year (and was featured in photo spreads in "Lui" and other magazines) under the title "Pathos". Helmer Piccio Raffanini has adapted the style of Jean-Jacques Beineix' "Diva" (and cast Beineix' regular thesp Gerard Darmon) to this tale of decadent photographers using high-tech equipment to stylize erotic fashion photos.

Virginia Hey is the antiheroine, whose sexy models are being murdered. Identity of the assailant is possible to figure out, and getting to the bottom of the mystery is made exciting by an excellent musical score, vivid pastel-lit photography by Romano Albani and a very attractive cast (frequently nude).

Hey, an Aussie thesp in tv series "Dolphin Cove", is solid s the shutterbug with a sadistic streak, while Teagan Clive and Carin McDonald offer diverting beauty as muscular femme models. August Darnell, Kid Creole of the vocal group, pops up in a small role.

Gabriele Ducros' hypnotic background score is augmented by well-chosen songs, including Chrissie Hyde's "Private Life", sung by Grace Jones. Tech credits, including English postysynch, are way above average.

A fashion photographer's models are being picked off one by one by a deranged redhead who lures them to phony photo shoots and stabs them to death.

Obsession: A Taste for Fear looks absolutely gorgeous even in its obviously cropped and muddy VHS transfer. It's part giallo and part erotic thriller with a little futuristic Blade Runner vibe throughout. Everything is bright, colorful, and futuristic. Unfortunately, the plot is both too convoluted and sluggish to keep one's interest for much time. You might find yourself nodding off midway through as the film's unlikable heroine tries to seduce yet another person for no apparent reason.

I have this movie in my collection and I pull it out to watch it about once or twice a year. It is a very strange movie and that keeps me coming back to examine it over and over. I would have gave it a 10, but it's attempt to look space-age kind of fizzled. However, the acting is good and the characters/actors are good-looking and interesting. The suspense and the music soundtrack make it all the more fascinating. I guess it makes me nostalgic for the 1980s when a slew of B-movies on VHS regularly flooded the small mom and pop video stores. This is one of the movies from that time period that stands out as unusual and entertaining. I recommend watching this creepy and mostly well-made, hard-to-find movie.

This film is packaged as a run of-the-mill sex thriller, however theres a lot more to it than meets the eye. The video box neglects to mention that this is a sci-fi adventure. The photography is absolutely magnificent, gorgeous, and well thought out. Sureal and surprising. It's everybit a 'Barberella' for the eighties